E flat diminished ninth
by hoshi-ni-onegai
Summary: Kenshin's band is short a guitar player when Sano breaks his hand in a fight. Sano suggests his cousin to fill his place. AU. Two-shot. KxK
1. E flat diminished ninth

Author Notes: Another one of my one-shots that only includes one scene. I recently bought concert tickets for "The Killers" (can you tell I'm obsessed with Brandon Flowers?) and have been thinking of a band fic. I think rock band based fics usually end up cheesy, so I limited the cheesiness to one chapter (for my own guilty pleasure). Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Also, can any one tell me where the title comes from? ^o^

Disclaimer: The _Rurouni Kenshin_ world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

**E flat diminished ninth**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

"She's late."

Sano looked up from his sandwich and gulped it down when he saw the glare coming from his short friend. "Barely."

Kenshin narrowed his eyes, "She's twenty minutes late."

"And that's ten minutes early for her," Sano shrugged and proceeded onto his reuben.

Frowning, Kenshin glanced back at Aoshi who was stoically tuning his bass guitar. Yahiko had lost interest and was on the floor, next to his drum set, taking a nap with his headphones in his ears.

He glared back at Sano -his roommate, band mate, and best friend of four years. Judging by the look on Sano's face, he was not worried about the appearance of this mystery girl. If he hadn't foolishly started a fight the day before, breaking his left hand in the process, they would not be in this situation.

Tomorrow was their first real gig, and they were short a guitar player. Sano was pretty blasé about it, saying that his cousin was just as good as he was and could fill in for him. With a quick call that had Sano begging and yelling at the girl on the other line simultaneously, she had agreed. They were supposed to meet to practice at noon, but it was twelve twenty... no, twelve twenty-five now.

"She better be as good as you say she is."

Licking off his fingers Sano frowned, "What? You don't trust me?"

"I trust you as far as I can throw you."

"That's pretty far," Sano grinned. "Don't worry. Jou-chan can rip through any chord. She was in a all-girl band for while, they had a falling out so now she's free."

Kenshin rolled his eyes, "We only need her for the tomorrow."

"The doc said it'll take a few months for my hand to fully heal and I shouldn't exert myself. And with that crazy chord you have me playing in the middle of the third set -E flat diminished ninth- I could lose my finger to that thing if I'm not careful."

"And she can play that?"

"In my sleep."

Kenshin turned around to see a black-haired girl standing in front of the stage. Her expressive eyes caught his and she smiled, "Don't worry. I can out play that oaf any day."

Hauling her guitar case over the stage she pulled herself up, instead of using the backstage steps. She reached her hand out toward Kenshin, "Kamiya Kaoru, at your service."

Kenshin took her hand and frowned. He had expected something different; a girl with a ridiculous amount of piercings, colored streaks in her hair, and a lot of punk-goth jewelry. But she was normal. Wearing a Motley Crew vintage t-shirt, brown leather bomber jacket, distressed jeans, and grey chuck taylors -she blended into their group pretty well.

Remembering her tardiness he frowned, "You're late."

It was her turn to frown, "Seriously?" She looked down at her watch, "I'm pretty sure I'm five minutes early. Sano said twelve thirty."

Kenshin glared at the man in question. He should have figured that Sano would forget the promised meeting time. When he glanced back at Kaoru, he saw that she was already making the rounds and greeting Aoshi and Yahiko. Setting herself up stage right she took out a navy Fender strat. Plugging it into the amp she began tuning it quietly.

Sano went over to her and from his gestures Kenshin figured he was explaining what chords to play in the songs. This was going to take a while -if it ever happened. Kenshin sighed; maybe the best thing would be to cancel the gig. There was no way Kaoru could learn ten sets by the end of the day.

That's when he heard it streaming out of her amp. It was raised only high enough so that she and Sano could hear it, but Kenshin heard it clear as a bell. She was playing expertly through a song that had taken Sano three days to nail down. She stopped halfway through the song and asked Sano for more instruction. Sano was surprisingly unfazed by her skill and continued to tell her chords.

The second part of the song played through the amp and she nodded toward Sano. Grinning, the tall man looked toward Kenshin, "She's ready for the first song."

At a loss of a comment to give, Kenshin stepped up to the mike and glanced toward her one last time. He saw that she was ready and he nodded toward Yahiko.

The youngest of the group clacked his drumsticks together, counting the song in. The first note went to the guitar, Kenshin was doubtful she could do it.

She hit the note perfectly. Aoshi jumped in at the third measure, and Kenshin vocals started two bars in.

Kenshin glanced back in awe, along with the rest of the group sans Sano, as she played through a solo guitar riff. She was playing just as good, if not better, than Sano -and on her first try with the song. He had a feeling that this kind of skill didn't come solely from years of practice, but also from natural talent.

When he heard the chord signaling that his part was to come up soon Kenshin smirked. Sano caught his eyes. The taller man was frowning. He was shaking his head and mouthing, "Don't you dare."

Kenshin glimpsed back at the new guitarist and grinned, she hit the E flat with the diminished ninth without a sweat.

This was going to be interesting.


	2. Groupies

Author Notes: I wrote a small bit of the dialogue in this chapter right after I wrote the first one. I've had it hibernating in my computer for a while now, and decided to quickly finish it off. Again, this will not be a multi-chapter. I sometimes wonder if I write these things more as an exercise than anything else. Drop me off a review and tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer: The **_**Rurouni Kenshin**_** world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.**

**Groupies**

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

Well into one in the morning, the crowd hadn't dispersed. The wood paneled dive bar was sweltering from the lack of ventilation. Yellow bulbs lined the mirror behind the bar with its rows of bottles of various heights. Patrons pushed and squeezed up to the bar to order their drinks, and the understaffed bartenders did a shoddy job of filling orders.

Sano grumbled as he shot a glare at the back of the bartender's head. The man had been ignoring him for a good while now, but he was determined to get his drinks. Sano leaned forward on his uninjured arm and frowned at the stickiness of the bar top from the various spilled cocktails. He teetered over the edge and grinned seeing that his arm span was far enough to reach for the bottled beers. Plucking two, he pivoted back and tossed down a few bills.

The closest bartender saw him and yelled. "You can't do that!"

"And you can't do your job." Sano rolled his eyes and turned away, "So we're even."

As Sano weaved through the crowd back to his friends, he caught sight of a familiar ponytail. Kaoru seemed to be accompanied by a few admirers, one in particular who loomed over her and she gave a sloppy smile back. Sano grinned. He couldn't wait to relay the news to a particular redhead.

A few yards and a dozen tipsy people later, Sano made it to the booth with his friends. Kenshin, Aoshi, Yahiko and Megumi nearly filled the half circle booth. Sliding onto the lacquered wooden bench, Sano looped his arm around his dark haired girl friend waiting for him and her drink. He passed Megumi her beer and tilted his chin to his petulant redheaded friend. "Jou-chan is drunk."

Looking incredulously at his long-time friend, Kenshin scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"No, seriously. She's drunk." Sano twisted the cap off his beer, and proceeded to do the same with Megumi's when she gave him a pointed look. "She was talking Yahiko's ear off at the bar before."

"I finally escaped when I said I was going to the bathroom." Yahiko complained as he knocked out drumbeats with two drink straws.

Kenshin frowned and faced the drummer in question. "That doesn't sound like her."

Megumi laughed, "You can't blame her. A girl can only be jerked around for so long."

Turning to Megumi, Kenshin furrowed his brows. "I don't know what you mean."

She sneered in response. "Sure you don't."

"You've been leading her on for months." Sano pointed out.

Kenshin shot him a look. "I've only known her for as long as your hand's been broken."

"Five weeks then." Megumi, who patched up the offending limb, answered. "But you've acted like you're interested, then changed your mind all of a sudden."

"What?" Kenshin glanced around the table looking for support, but didn't find it. Even Aoshi seemed to agree with Megumi.

"You brought out the big guns with the flirting and asking her out on a date." She said admonishingly.

"That wasn't a date. Just dinner." Kenshin defended.

"And you said it wasn't a date after the fact." Megumi narrowed her eyes at him. "Right after your ex came sweeping through -causing enough drama for a daytime soap with her impending wedding announcement."

"Tomoe is from here, you can't blame her for coming back to her hometown." Kenshin mumbled around his water as he took a long sip, anything to hide from the accusations. "Don't make her sound like a natural disaster."

"Oh, she's not to blame at all." Megumi pointed a finger at the redhead. "That's all you."

Sano exhaled noisily. "That's why I wanted to keep you away from her."

"But you're the one who called her to fill in for you!" Kenshin winced at his own rising volume.

"Yeah, because who else was going to memorize that ridiculous set you came up within a day?" Sano said. "So I'm going to need you to stay away from her if you're not interested."

"What? We can't be friends now?" Kenshin shot back.

"Friends? Sure. Band mates? Only if you keep her on as second guitar and not replace me completely." Sano replied. "But as a love interest? Not unless you're serious."

"It was just dinner. Between friends." Kenshin grumbled.

"You've never kissed me after dinner." Aoshi finally added to the conversation.

All head whipped toward him. Sano and Yahiko surprised by what Aoshi revealed. Kenshin for being found out. And Megumi hissed at the taciturn man. "Did Misao tell you?" Aoshi shrugged in response and fell quiet.

Sano's voice was disbelieving. "You kissed Jou-chan?

Before Kenshin had a chance to negate the statement, Megumi cut in, "Don't say she kissed you, because I know that's not true."

Kenshin kept quiet, proving his guilt and now wanting to reveal more than they seemed to already know. Sano leaned back in the booth and shook his head. "No wonder she's drinking." He then added as an afterthought, "And I think there was also a groupie about to go in for the kill."

Kenshin's eyes widened as he leapt out of the booth, and snapped back his friend. "Why didn't you say that earlier?"

Once the redhead disappeared into the sea of people, Megumi shot Sano a look. "If Kaoru is drunk and there's someone hitting on her, why didn't you step in to help her?"

Sano chuckled, "Sure, like Jou-chan is a damsel in need of saving."

Kenshin pushed through the crowd with his aim toward the bar. Breaking through to be slammed against the bar top, Kenshin lifted forward as if pulling out of a pool. Head turning every which way, he swept his eyes over the crowd but couldn't spot the girl in question.

A bartender passed his end of the bar, and Kenshin caught his attention before he turned to other customers. "I'm looking my friend." Kenshin spoke loudly over the ruckus of the crowd and the old jukebox. "Ponytail, black hair, really pretty, shreds a guitar like no other?"

The bartender smirked at the description. "I'm not sure about the last bit, but a girl like yours just left out the back. I think one of her admirers stalked her out."

Turning away, he made a beeline for the back exit. The pace at which he moved through the crowd was miraculous considering the amount of people packed into the small dive bar. Various people he passed gave him a nod and asked for a high-five, but he ignored them all. The rest of the band could deal with the local fans -Kenshin had a Kaoru to rescue.

Shoving against the push bar of the backdoor, Kenshin broke out into the night air. The back of the bar was a parking lot, lit sporadically by street lights. There were a few people milling around outside, most with a cigarette in hand. The duo closest to the door stared at him. One realized who he was and nudged his friend. They grinned at Kenshin.

"Awesome concert tonight." One said after puffing out smoke.

Kenshin numbly nodded and glanced through the various faces but didn't see Kaoru. Kenshin turned toward the young man who addressed him. "Have you seen my guitar player?"

"The hot chick?" The other one asked. Kenshin narrowed his eyes but nodded.

The first one pointed to the edge of the building. "Went that way with a really grabby guy."

Without another word, Kenshin sprinted to the edge of the bar and whirled around the corner. He froze in his tracks when he saw her. There she was, Kaoru. Disheveled hair, smeared eyeliner, and slightly askew clothes. But she was no damsel in distress.

"Really? What are we living in the eighteenth century where you think you can just cop a feel?" Kaoru reprimanded while standing over the supposed perpetrator.

Kenshin had been expecting to sweep in and save Kaoru, but he wondered if maybe the offending groupie needed the saving. The young man was on his knees, gritting his teeth in pain as Kaoru maintained a sure grip on his right thumb as she bent it back.

"Let go you bitch!" The man spat out.

"Like that's the first time someone's called me that." Kaoru rolled her eyes. "A second ago you were all about touching me, trying to take free reign over my ass and everything. Now that I'm touching you, you've changed your mind? Sounds like someone I know."

Kenshin winced at the jab, but she was right. Before worrying about that, Kenshin figured there were more pressing matters: like the metacarpal bone in the guy's hand.

"Kaoru?" Kenshin precariously approached her.

She turned toward him and seemed surprised to see him. Prodding her foot against the writhing man, Kaoru gestured to the redhead. "Speak of the devil. That's Kenshin, my friend." She placed a severe emphasis on the last word.

Kenshin sighed and pointed to her victim. "Let the guy go."

Kaoru appeared to consider the prospect and shrugged. "Fine."

Promptly releasing his thumb, Kaoru leaned against the side of the building. The man stood up, cradling his hand and glared at her. Kenshin moved forward seeing the apparent anger in the man's eyes. The man drew back his left fist on the ready facing Kaoru, but before he could swing forward Kenshin was there.

Grabbing his wrist and twisting it back, Kenshin frowned. "Didn't you learn your lesson? Just go."

Kenshin turned the man away and toward the back of the building. Shoving him forcefully, Kenshin knocked him away and the man left quickly when finally let go. Kaoru crossed her arms in front of her chest as the man left and she was left alone with Kenshin. Kenshin observed her as she raised a brow at him, the experience having apparently sobered her up.

"What did you want Kenshin?" She asked.

Scratching the back of his head, he gave a sheepish smile. "I came to save you?"

"Seriously?" She scoffed. "Well, I obviously don't need you."

Kenshin nodded. "That's fair."

"Fair? I think fair would be tossing you aside." Kaoru attempted nonchalance. "And guess what? That's exactly what I'm going to do."

She pushed off the wall and turned toward the front of the building. She seemed to stumble a bit, confirming that she wasn't as sober as she previously appeared, but braced herself against the wall. Straightening out, Kaoru continued on her path with Kenshin following behind her.

She kept going until she reached the front parking lot. Fishing out her keys from her pocket, she fumbled with them as she went over to her car. On unsteady feet she aimed at the keyhole on her car door, but missed enough times to leave a scratch. She frowned at the new nick, but shrugged. It wasn't like it was noticeable on the banged up old car.

A steady hand grasped hers, then tugged the keys away. Kaoru whipped around to face Kenshin. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm the designated driver."

She narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't going to drive. I was just going to sleep it off."

"In your car in the middle of the night? That sounds completely safe." Kenshin responded sarcastically. "I'll drive you home."

"The hell you care about my safety." She snapped. "And what about everyone else? The original band mates?"

"Yahiko's underage, he's not drinking." Kenshin explained as he motioned her to get in on the passenger side.

Kaoru stood her ground. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

He narrowed his eyes. "Get in the car Kaoru."

"What? So you can throw me out on the side of the road?"

"I won't do that." He tried to reason.

She dramatically exhaled. "Yeah, not unless Tomoe comes along."

Hearing her words, he froze. Previously when he talked to Kaoru about pursuing only a platonic relationship, she had appeared fine with the situation. At which point Kenshin grew paranoid that he liked her a lot more than she him. But Kaoru was apparently a master of hiding her emotions, because they only seemed to come forward with an alcohol-loosened tongue.

"You can't be nice to me and try to get inside my pants again just because your first choice is gone." She stepped forward and jabbed an accusing finger into his chest. "I'm second string to no one."

Kenshin had worried about this -that she would misunderstand- but she had acted so unaffected that he had assumed she didn't care about him. After all, he had done all the pursuing and she had finally just given in to go on a date.

He raked his fingers through his hair. "You're not second string."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm not a part of the team. I was just a onetime match." Her words were slightly slurred but angry. "I was just a one night stand for you."

He pinned her with his eyes. "You're more than that."

"Yeah right." She scathed.

"It's just..." He started, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to reveal so much of himself to someone he knew for so little time. However, Kenshin had the sneaking suspicion that Kaoru was worth it. "It's just I was the one who messed things up with Tomoe. I left her and hurt her."

Hearing his confession Kaoru visibly calmed but her expression was confused.

He continued. "When she came back into town, it reminded me how much I hurt her and ruined everything. I didn't want that to happen to you. So before I could fuck this up too, I ended it. I rather you be my friend and part of my life, than hate me and not be part of it."

Kaoru remained silent as she absorbed the information. Her mind flashed back to two weeks ago, to their date. It was only supposed to be a kiss goodnight at her front door, but one thing led to another and before she knew it they were on her bed. The next day Tomoe showed up at the band's practice session. Two days later Kenshin suggested to Kaoru to being just friends. And now, here they were. In the parking lot of a dive bar right by where they played a gig that night and Kenshin showing all his cards.

"Don't I get a say in this at all?" Kaoru questioned. "So you're not even giving me the chance of preventing you from fucking this up to holy hell?"

Kenshin was taken aback by her words. "You mean, you want to try? With us?"

She glared at him. "I think I deserve more than just a test drive."

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "You like your metaphors."

"They never steered me wrong." She extended the allegory, "Unlike you."

Kenshin couldn't deny that he liked Kaoru. Liked her a lot. But that was also the reason why he wanted to protect her from himself. However, it was also unfair of him to barge in to 'rescue' her when in reality rescuing wasn't the plan. The real goal had been to prevent someone from swooping in and quickly taking the place he occupied not two weeks ago.

Kaoru pushed away from him and headed back toward the bar. Kenshin frowned at her pursuit and stopped her. "Where are you going?"

She shot him a look. "Calling a cab."

"I'll drive you." He attempted again and maneuvered her back to the car.

She floundered and tugged away from him. "Rather not be a charity case for you."

"I want to see you home safe." He tried reasoning.

Kaoru responded with a dramatic eye roll. "I think a cabbie will be more emotionally secure than you."

Kenshin frowned. "I thought you were giving me a second chance."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, but you don't want a second chance."

Mentally smacking himself, he realized Kaoru took his previous silence as dismissing the idea of a relationship. Seeing the speculative look in her eyes he sighed. This really was his fault. He wrecked a good thing just because he wanted to protect her -not that he had any right to presume to do so.

"I want a second chance." He finally whispered out while reaching forward and cradling her cheek.

Her eyes widened and her breath hitched. After a moment, she spoke. "This better not be just an attempt to get laid. I'm not about to become some booty call."

"After you kill me, your cousin and friends will kill me a few times over if I tried that." He said. "And I think you better be ready to give me a third, fourth, and fifth chance. I don't exactly have the best track record in relationships."

Kaoru considered his proposition but shook her head. "You're getting them one at a time." Seeing him smile in response she wagged a drunken finger at him. "I expect some groveling for this round." She considered him for a moment, "So do we have a deal?"

"A deal?" He wondered about her choice of wording.

"Are we dating? Or whatever?" She asked while appearing a bit distracted.

"Yes, we're dating." He grinned. "Or whatever."

"Good." She braced herself against her car and bent over to face down toward the pavement. "Take up your first duty and hold up my hair."

Kaoru proceeded to unceremoniously empty the contents of her stomach onto the asphalt, and Kenshin quickly hovered behind her and kept her hair from falling forward. He vigilantly rubbed her back as her heaving and hacking calmed down.

"This is highly attractive." Kaoru righted herself and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "I think I had three too many drinks."

Kenshin guided her to the passenger door and opened it for her. She plopped down on the seat with her feet still on the pavement. She seemed to have stopped purging her stomach, so Kenshin crouched down in front of her.

"You okay?" He reached forward and tucked an unruly lock of hair behind her ear.

"I think so." She rested her head against the seat and sighed while closing her eyes. "Kenshin?"

Kenshin observed her face. "Yeah?"

"Take me home." Kaoru muttered out before falling asleep.


End file.
